Fulbourn Forum AGM with Film and Talk

Thursday 7 May, in the large meeting room, Fulbourn Centre, 7.30 to 9.30pm

Free. No need to book.

AGM at 7.30pm followed by a short break for refreshments, before the film commencing at 8.15pm. There will be an opportunity for questions afterwards. 

This year the talk entitled ‘Monitoring our Rivers’ will be given by David Lomas of the Wilbraham River Protection Society (WRPS). The WRPS has begun sampling the water from the streams in the Fulbourn/Wilbraham catchment area and testing for a range of pollutants. The talk will begin with a 16 minute film ‘Testing the Waters’ which is about the citizen science work being led by David on behalf of WRPS. Initially 21 sites were selected for analysis. The documentary was filmed and directed by Nigel Kinnings who was responsible for Fulbourn Forum’s ‘Fugolburna‘ film.

After the film, David will further explain the local quality results before covering some of the other cam waterbodies in the Lower Cam area. He will also cover the issue of lack of water in the eastern regions and what actions are or are not being taken, particularly in the light of the significant housing and employment expansion being proposed in the Greater Cambridge area. He will conclude with an explanation of the ongoing coordination of water interest groups in the Cam area.

Fulbourn Windmill CIO

Following on from the removal of the sails, cap and fantail back in November, scaffolding has now been erected around the mill in anticipation of the main restoration work commencing in late spring/early summer. Internal scaffolding has still to be installed to help maintain the integrity of the structure during the works. The main works are now out to tender which will be returned later in March.

If you would like to register your interest in the windmill and be kept informed of progress through Fulbourn Windmill CIO newsletters, please email fulbourn.windmill.cio@gmail.com and ask to be included on the contact list. The new website is now live and can be accessed at:www.fulbournwindmill.org.uk

Fulbourn Fen Nature Reserve

Back in November, we reported on the closure of Ansett’s Wood due to safety concerns. After raising the funding, the felling of many dozens of dead or dying trees together with surgery to damaged trees began in early February and is now well advanced. The main problem has been one of ash dieback, but other trees have also been affected.

The project plan has been scrutinised and approved as necessary by all the relevant authorities, including Natural England, the Forestry Commission, and South Cambs District Council. The woodland will remain closed until further notice while the ground is cleared and made suitable for future planting and some permissive access can be restored. This extensive work enables the Wildlife Trust to make the site safe for the long term.

This will be a considerable change to the woodlands and replanting of many new trees later in 2026 will result in a wildlife and people friendly woodland that will be more resilient to the effects of ongoing climate change. The problems found at Ansett’s Wood are not unique. After an extensive recent survey of their woodlands, the Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs and Northants discovered similar issues affecting many sites.

The Wildlife Trust will be welcoming members of the public to come and help with the new planting planned for the autumn/winter 2026. Fulbourn Forum has been asked to help publicise this work. We will let you know the dates and times as soon as we are notified.

Bid for chalk streams UNESCO Heritage Status

Two members of the Fulbourn Forum committee attended the launch on 19 February of the bid by the South Cambridgeshire MP Pippa Heylings to introduce a Ten Minute Rule Bill in Parliament, calling on the government to nominate the UK’s chalk streams for consideration for UNESCO Natural World Heritage Status.

The launch was held at Stone Bridge, Stow-cum-Quy next to Quy Water. This is the stream fed by the springs and water from the Fulbourn and Wilbraham catchment area, passing through Lode Mill at Anglesey Abbey on its way to the Cam.

Craig Bennett, CEO of The Wildlife Trusts spoke in support. Ten Cambridge area environmental and water campaigners, including David Cottee of Fulbourn Forum, also attended the presentation of the Bill on 25 February in the House of Commons.

Neighbourhood Plan

The completion of the Fulbourn Neighbourhood Plan in 2023 provided an opportunity to bring together into a formal planning orientated document, many of the aspirations and ongoing projects of the village. The FNP proposed that progress on various policies and aspirations should be reviewed annually. Fulbourn Forum provided a report to the Parish Council in 2024 and 2025, and David Nobel has updated the report for 2026 particularly concerning environmental and related projects. 

The projects listed include:  Village Tree and Woodland Survey and Planting Programme; Herb Beds; Local Water Courses (including Fugolburna film); Capital Park (community engagement); Nature Reserve Extension; CoFarm (community farm project); Swifts (new boxes, monitoring and public awareness); 20mph Speed Zone; Greenway; Windmill Refurbishment Project; Eastern Cambridge Farmers (sustainable farming); Lower Valley Farm Meadows and Woodlands; Litter Picks; Assets of Community Value; Community Orchards; High Street; Parking and Traffic Management; Victorian Gardens; Monitoring of Planning Applications; River Quality Testing.

Saturday 14 March, 2.30 to 5.00pm in the Townley Hall, Fulbourn Centre

As usual, a range of stalls for both crafts and food. Paolo will be there with ‘A Taste of Italy’ including pastries, biscuits and pizzette, Urara with her Japanese pastries and sweet bakes, fine chocolates from Cheryl’s ‘Artistry in Cocoa’, and bottle -conditioned ales from Fulbourn’s 

Moonshine Brewery. Fulbourn Forum’s own table will have vegetarian sausage rolls, vegetarian samosas, onion bhajis, conserves, marmalade, cakes, and local honey, plus snowdrops from Fulbourn Manor. New tables this time are Tabitha with sourdough bread and other baked offerings, and Noelia with bottled lacto-fermented vegetables.

We hope to have frozen beef products again from Quy Hall Estate. If confirmed, we will send notification in a separate email a week before the market. The meat is from their own herd of year-round grass-fed Devon Red cattle which are used for conservation grazing which manages habitats and supports biodiversity.

The stalls with handmade crafts includes leather bags, purses and wallets and more from Christine T, jewellery from Halina and new stallholder Florencia, handmade cards for every occasion by Jenny, a range of fabric items, including for children, are offered by Christine N and Sue, while a range of pottery items are provided by Simon and friend. Linda and Tony of ‘Turn and Burn’ have handmade wooden items, both decorative and practical, and Fulbourn Windmill mugs and tea towels will also be on sale.

The Cafe, as usual, is run by the Fulbourn WI, so do come, make your purchases and stay awhile in the cafe to chat with friends and neighbours. 

Please note that the cafe is cash only. A small number of stalls can take card payments, but most are cash only, so do please come prepared!

Sunday 12 April. Meet at the Fulbourn Centre between 2.00 and 2.30pm.

We meet outside the Fulbourn Centre to collect equipment, pickers and bags, and to confirm your picking area. We hope that many of you can join us to help clear litter from the centre of the village and along the approach roads out to the parish boundaries. Please bring your own equipment if you have some, not forgetting suitable gloves and, if you have one, a hi-vis vest (for use particularly along busy roads). However, we will have plenty of pickers and gloves, and a few vests to borrow.

As usual, arrangements will be made for the collection of filled bags from the roadside – no need to carry them back unless you are able to. A volunteer or two with a suitable vehicle to help with this collection would be much appreciated. Please let us know if you can help.

If you cannot make the Sunday afternoon but would still like to help, please contact us for the pickers and bags (available from Friday afternoon, 10 April) so that you can pick your chosen area in the morning or on another day. Several people have been doing this which is greatly appreciated.

Fulbourn Fen Nature Reserve

Back in August, we promised to update you with further information about the closure of Ansett’s Wood. We have now been sent the following from the Wildlife Trust BCN:

“The footpaths within Ansett’s Wood are currently closed for safety reasons but the permissive paths within the meadows remain open for people to enjoy. All public access across the nature reserve is by kind permission, with no public rights of way across any of the reserve.

It has been confirmed that Ansett’s Wood has many dozens of dead or dying trees that will need to be felled to make the area safe for the public again. Rather than just a few individual trees that can be made safe by tree surgeons, this is a much more substantial woodland operation that will require forestry contractors to operate in the woodland during the winter season. This will require work to ensure that all regulations and licences are complied with, quotes obtained from reputable companies, and then funding will have to be found to pay for the felling work and subsequent replanting.

Once licences, contractors and funding are in place, the work can be carried out, but only when weather and ground conditions allow. Unfortunately, this means that the woodland will be closed for the foreseeable future. We are in the process of gathering quotes and the necessary licences but it is not a quick process and comes on top of an existing workload for a very small team of staff, so we thank you for your patience.”

It is understood that part of the problem in the woodland is due to ash dieback disease, a nationwide 

problem. The Wildlife Trust will be posting any future updates concerning the work on their website.

The last work party of 2025 is on Sunday 7 December. Meet, as usual, at the entrance to the reserve in Stonebridge Lane at 10am. As always, please wear thick gardening gloves and appropriate clothing, including sturdy footwear to protect against thorns, scratches and snags. Tools provided. Bring drinks and snacks as required. The work party will finish around 12.30-1.00pm.

The first three work parties of 2026 are:

Sunday 4 January. Meet at 10am.

Sunday 1 February. Meet at 10am.

Sunday 1 March. Meet at 10am.

For more information and to be included in the Wildlife Trust’s contact list for all future local work parties, please contact the local volunteer wardens at: fulbournfennaturereserve@gmail.comWilbraham River Protection Society (WRPS) AGM and Talk

Talk by Dr Laurie Friday – Restoring wetland biodiversity: what can our ditches do for us?

Tuesday 25 November, 7.00pm, in Great Wilbraham Memorial Hall.

Agenda

7.00pm Wilbraham River Protection Society AGM

7.45pm Break for refreshments

8.00pm Talk by Dr Laurie Friday plus Q&A

9.00pm Finish

Dr Friday is an experienced zoologist with a background in freshwater and fenland ecology.  She has worked with Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy and has strong connections to stakeholders across the Fens landscape. She has recently retired as Manager of the Cambridge Centre for Landscape Regeneration (CLR) and as Director of the Isaac Newton Trust.

The CLR is led by the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the RSPB, the Endangered Landscapes Programme, and NIAB. It fosters research in three UK landscapes of which Fenland is one. Here it explores the possible future of the Fens, tackling challenges such as habitat restoration and climate resilience within the context of supporting local communities. Laurie has maintained a 40-year relationship with Wicken Fen, carrying out her postdoctoral research on water beetles and carnivorous plants there in the 1980s, chairing the reserve’s Management Committee, and now partnering the Fen in a wetland restoration project

All the above, is, of course, particularly relevant to those of us living in this area with its predominance of ditches, many of which have been present for hundreds of years. The ditches, the Little Wilbraham River and the wider local catchment area including Fulbourn, coexist as a waterway system that has been modified to respond to perceived agricultural need. Now, however, the waterways are drying and the ecosystems failing. Dr Friday’s talk may give us some guidance for their future protection.

All are welcome to the AGM and/or the talk, although you are likely to find of interest the report on the activities of the WRPS and the current condition of our springs and streams. The event is free of charge. 

For more information contact: wilbrahamriver@gmail.comCambridge Carbon Footprint Thermal Imaging Cameras

CCF is again offering residents and organisations across Cambridgeshire the opportunity to borrow and learn how to use a thermal imaging camera for free. It is necessary to attend a one-hour online training session before borrowing a camera, to learn how to interpret thermal images, identify draughts, gaps in insulation, and heating problems, and how to make your home warmer and more energy efficient. 

Thermal Imaging Online Training Dates:

Wednesday 3 December, 7.30-8.30pm

Wednesday 7 January, 7.30-8.30pm

Monday 9 February, 7.30-8.30pm

Loan periods are either Friday pm to Monday am, or Monday pm to Friday am. Cameras can be picked up from one of 18 volunteer camera hosts around South Cambs, Cambridge City and Huntingdonshire. CCF also encourages individuals, organisations and community groups to undertake training to survey multiple properties within their community.

More information, and interviews with experts, volunteers and organisers can be arranged on request. 

Contact Fran Sutton : fran@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org / 07713 841 391

Fulbourn Windmill CIO – Restoration Update

Even if you did not see the presence of a large crane on three separate days on windmill hill, many of you will have noticed that the windmill has recently lost its sails, cap and fantail. Following the granting of listed building planning consent, this is the start, at last, of the restoration work. A temporary roof has been lifted into place to protect the mill until scaffolding is erected around the mill next year, together with a slightly higher temporary roof, to allow work on the mill structure and internal mechanism to proceed. The stocks, cap, and fantail are being stored on site where restoration work will be undertaken, while the sails are being removed to a large barn in Fulbourn parish for storage.

If you would like to register your interest in the windmill and be kept informed of future progress through Fulbourn Windmill CIO newsletters, please email fulbourn.windmill.cio@gmail.com and ask to be included in their contact list. A new website will soon be live which will include a large amount of historical data, photos, videos, and current and future updates.

During the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan comments were received on the need for further recreation land in the village.

The current Recreation Ground is not ideal with both cricket and football taking place in the same area which creates difficulties at both the beginning and end of the respective seasons. The National Playing Fields Association standards require a minimum of 1.6 hectares per 1,000 population for outdoor sport. The current ground is 5.5 hectares, so based on the existing population estimate of 4,890 there is a deficit of 2.3 hectares. This will increase to a deficit of 4.1 hectares should the population increase to around 6,000 with the developments under construction at Teversham Road and Fulbourn Old Drift (Ida Darwin site). Land for further allotments or communal vegetable growing was also noted as a potential need. Neither of the above developments provide space for any of the above activities.

With the support of the Parish Council, a Working Group is to be established to confirm the need for further recreation land, how it might be used, and to determine the options to meet the identified need. Two Parish Councillors and the PC Clerk are already assigned to the group. 

If you would like to volunteer to be part of the Working Group, then please contact Ron Ward at: ronward3j@gmail.com

Guided Walk around the new Lower Valley Farm meadows and tree planting

Sunday 4 August. Meeting at 2.0pm at Mount Farm, nr Worsted Lodge (access details below)

The walk, starting at the junction of the Roman Road with the A11, will go through the new meadows and young woodland. The land, all within the Parish of Fulbourn, was previously large arable fields but has now been subdivided by fences and planted with grass mixture or tree saplings. Owned by the County Council, the area has been set aside as Biodiversity Net Gain land. The walk will return along the Roman Road, which is adjacent to the land for around 1.3 km, back to the parking areas. The change in land use will greatly increase biodiversity of the area and be beneficial to chalk grassland flowers and butterflies. Ground nesting birds such as skylarks are already in residence.

August 2023

The walk will be led by Dr Ed Tanner (Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge) and Roger Lemon (butterfly expert). The walk will last between 2.5  and 3 hours. Please wear suitable footwear and bring snacks/water – there is mostly no or little shade. There are no facilities at Mount Farm. You may leave the guided walk at any time.

The access to the start point is the side road off the A1307 (opposite High Street, Babraham), leading to Mount Farm near Worsted Lodge. There is parking near Mount Farm, and also across the bridge over the A11 near Worsted Lodge. Cycling from Fulbourn along Babraham Road and the Roman Road is 3 miles each way.

There is no need to book.

Fugolburna Film Project by Fulbourn Forum – Second Screening        

Thurs 18 July 2024 at 7.30pm

Storey’s Field Centre, Eddington Ave, Eddington, Cambridge, CB3 1AA

The film will be followed by a short Q&A discussion 

Free entry. Bar and doors open at 6.30pm. Numbers limited.

We are delighted to be able to offer a repeat screening of the documentary film Fugolburna – the screening in Fulbourn sold out!

This film explores the problematic condition of local springs, streams and rivers, the excessive abstraction of water and the impact on the natural environment.

Fulbourn Forum together with the Wilbraham River Protection Society, the Wildlife Trust, and Cam Valley Forum, has been observing and monitoring the condition of our springs and watercourses for some time. We are keen to keep our valuable chalk streams in the eye of the authorities, water companies and environmental campaign organisations.

A reminder of the background to this project:

In 2019, I saw the documentary Waterlight: portrait of a chalk stream, about the River Mel which rises in Melbourn, and had thought that it would be good to record the Fulbourn streams and watercourses to alert people to the crisis they are in. Then, during the wet winter of 2020/21, the water table rose and the springs at Fulbourn and Wilbraham started running again after a period of inactivity. I saw the opportunity of filming our chalk streams to show the effect that flowing, clean water has on the environment and to contrast that with the inevitable drying of the watercourses, both in summer and even in winter

I contacted Nigel Kinnings, who helped film and produce Waterlight, and he was able to begin some initial filming almost immediately. While this was underway, together we sketched out a plan for a documentary with ideas of what might be shown and people we could interview to comment on or explain the issues that the film would explore. With his background at BBC Bristol and experience working as a professional cinematographer, Nigel was able to help develop the film’s format, and we continued to film through the seasons to tell the story of our local natural environment and the importance of water. The documentary’s title, Fugolburna: stream frequented by birds, was chosen early on to reference the Anglo Saxon name for Fulbourn which is indicative of a fen-edge, watery location.

Many hours of filming have been skilfully edited by Tim Lloyd-Kinnings to tell that story. The documentary shows how people are working to help improve nature locally, looks back at the changes that have resulted in the loss of water and biodiversity, explores the issue of over-abstraction of water from the chalk aquifer, and the attempts to compensate for this loss by a pumped water augmentation scheme by the Environment Agency, of which Fulbourn and Wilbraham are just part of a wider project covering the Cam, Rhee and Granta catchments. Interviews with local people and experts provide a better understanding of the issues and the factors that impact on them. The documentary has also provided an opportunity to celebrate in film our beautiful Fulbourn Fen Nature Reserve and other parts of the river catchment area, while also highlighting people’s enjoyment of it.

The film is, on one level, a campaigning one, but it also aims to inform and to entertain, including footage of associated community activities such as the Swift Group, nature reserve work parties, and litter picks. But, primarily, I hope that it will inspire motivation and action to maintain, restore, and improve Fulbourn’s aquatic and wider natural environment, bringing them to a healthier and more sustainable state. My thanks go to all those who willingly gave their time and support in the making of the film, to Nigel for his dedication to the project, to  Christine Lloyd-Fitt for her invaluable help with the production, and to the Wright’s Clock Land CIO and the Wadlow Wind Farm Community Fund for their financial contributions.

David Cottee

2024 General Election Hustings Event

Meet the Candidates

Conservative Green Party  Labour  Liberal Democrats  Reform UK  Independent

Thursday 20 June at 7.30pm in St Vigor’s Church, Fulbourn

The selection of a new MP and government is always an important time. So, as part of our community support activities, Fulbourn Forum has invited all the six parliamentary candidates for the new South Cambridgeshire constituency to this special hustings event. The Rector, the Revd Alice Goodman, has again kindly agreed to moderate the meeting. Following short presentations by each candidate, there will be plenty of time for questions and answers. 

To help plan a balanced meeting, questions should be submitted in advance, by email, to Fulbourn Forum who will pass them all to the moderator. If selected, you will be asked to present your question in person. If there is time, additional questions from the floor may be invited at the discretion of Revd Goodman.

We do hope that a good number of you can come to ensure a packed, lively, but well-mannered event!